Gotham: Batman costume seemingly leaked online

An image was recently posted to the r/DCComics Reddit page which purports to show the Batman costume that Bruce Wayne will be suiting up in for the finale of the long-running Fox series. It looks to be heavily inspired by Christian Bale's Batsuit from the Christopher Nolan film trilogy, with perhaps just a splash of George Clooney's Batman & Robin suit — minus the bat-nipples, of course.

The poster applied a filter to brighten up the image, implying that Wayne's first and only appearance as Batman over the course of the series' run may be bathed in shadow. While the veracity of the image is obviously unconfirmed, the same Reddit page was responsible for leaking photos of Cameron Monaghan's Jeremiah Valeska sporting his final look as the Joker from the "Ace Chemicals" episode earlier this season; that leak turned out to be accurate, so it stands to reason that this one has a better-than-average shot of being on the money as well.

Gothamis a series that probably should never have worked as well as it did. Throughout its five seasons, it's focused on the transformation of the Caped Crusader's famed stomping grounds from a troubled city in the grip of ruthless gangsters to a dangerous hellhole overrun with masked supervillains, as seen largely through the eyes of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), whose defining tragic event — the murder of his parents by mugger Matches Malone — was depicted in the pilot episode. Gordon began the series as a junior detective in the Gotham City Police Department, but his zig-zagging path has seen him see time as a patrol officer, an Arkham Asylum guard, and even a bounty hunter on his way to his current rank of Captain and position as president of the Gotham Police Union. Meanwhile, Wayne has ever-so-slowly inched his way toward accepting his destiny as the Dark Knight, often crossing paths with Gordon on his way to becoming a black-clad masked vigilante during the events of season 4.

Along the way, the series has given us detailed and at times emotional origin stories for more iconic villains than you can shake a Batarang at. In addition to Monaghan's Joker, we've seen the rise of such rogue's gallery mainstays as the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, the Riddler, Hugo Strange, Solomon Grundy, and Ra's Al Ghul.

Throughout it all, fans have longed to see Wayne don the famous cape and cowl to take on the plague of villains infesting Gotham, and earlier this year, it was confirmed that they would get their wish — sort of. The series' final episode will take place after a ten-year time jump, meaning that it won't be the teenage version of Wayne portrayed by Mazouz who will be gearing up, but an adult stand-in of slightly larger stature, with the face of Mazouz likely digitally superimposed and/or employed for closeups. At a Television Critics' Association press tour in February, executive producer John Stephens offered the detail that Gotham's Batsuit was designed "for someone that is six-foot-four," which Mazouz is most definitely not. However, he said, "The face that you [will] see under the cowl is 100 percent David Mazouz's face. We'll hear [his] voice as well, and his own Batman growl." (via The Wrap)

It's nice to know that the young actor will finally get his Batman moment after five seasons of ably portraying Bruce Wayne's long and perilous road to superheroism, even if he won't get to fill out the iconic suit himself (unless, that is, he's undergone a serious growth spurt that we don't know about). Events in Gotham City have been doggedly pushing young Master Wayne toward Caped Crusader-dom as of late; season 4's conclusion saw the machinations of Ra's Al Ghul and Valeska plunge the city into utter lawlessness, rendering it a no-man's land ripe for divvying up by an array of costumed baddies. Season 5 has seen the situation become even more complicated due to the successful efforts of Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Barbara Kean, Firefly, and Scarecrow to stake out their territory, and the arrival of the Delta Force, a military unit which has been sent in to restore order and is headed up by Gordon's old army pal Eduardo Dorrance, who is destined to become everybody's favorite back-breaking Bats nemesis, Bane.

The final season has ramped up its storytelling momentum, sending both Gordon and Wayne hurtling headlong toward their ultimate destinies as the incorruptible defenders of Gotham City. While we will likely only get a limited look at Wayne in action as Batman, his long-awaited appearance will be a nice payoff for the fans that have made Gotham a resounding success for Fox — and if that leaked image is indeed the real deal, he's going to be looking pretty freaking cool, to boot.

Gotham airs Thursday nights at 8 PM Eastern on Fox; only three episodes remain, with the next set to air on March 21.